10 Block engineering leaders
Senior Director, Data and AI Engineering, Head of Financial Platform Engineering and Director of Engineering: Applied AI are among the current titles held by these Block engineering leaders, who also lead engineering for banking, bitcoin, payments and Cash App. A reader can learn how engineering leaders work at Block from people who have held the role.
Professionals to explore
Adam Edwards
LinkedInExperience: Director, Software Engineering - Payments · Block
Adam Edwards has been Director, Software Engineering - Payments at Block since August 2018, based in Atlanta, with a headline of Software Development Leader. Adam Edwards was Software Development Director at CareerBuilder from 2008 to 2018 and Software Engineer at MED Concepts from 2006 to 2008.
Anna Bogatch
LinkedInExperience: Director of Software Engineering, OS Platform · Block
Anna Bogatch has been Director of Software Engineering, OS Platform at Block since January 2025, a role the profile lists at director level, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Anna Bogatch was Embedded OS Engineering Manager at Block from 2021 to 2025 and Sr. SW Engineer at Square from 2019 to 2021.
Ariel Chait
LinkedInExperience: Head of Bitcoin Engineering · Block
Ariel Chait has been Head of Bitcoin Engineering at Block since May 2026, based in Santa Monica, California. Ariel Chait was Senior Engineering Manager at Cash App from 2022 to 2026 and Senior Software Engineering Manager, Worldwide Publishing at Riot Games from 2019 to 2021.
Arnaud Weber
LinkedInExperience: Block Engineering Lead · Block
Arnaud Weber has been Block Engineering Lead at Block since August 2025, a role the profile lists at head level, and was Cash App Engineering Lead there from June to August 2025. Arnaud Weber was Founder / CTO at Big Sur AI from 2023 to 2025 and Vice President Of Engineering - Consumer products at Twitter in 2022.
Avinash Gangadharan
LinkedInExperience: Head of Financial Platform Engineering · Block
Avinash Gangadharan has been Head of Financial Platform Engineering at Block since February 2026, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Avinash Gangadharan was CTO at Turo from 2018 to 2025, Vice President Of Engineering, Discovery and Omnichannel at Walmart Global Tech from 2017 to 2018 and Senior Director at Walmart Global Tech from 2015 to 2017.
Benjamin Ponedel
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering: Applied AI · Block
Benjamin Ponedel has been Director of Engineering: Applied AI at Block since May 2025, based in Berkeley, California. Benjamin Ponedel was Head of Machine Learning - Square Financial Services at Square from 2022 to 2025, Machine Learning Tech Lead at Square from 2020 to 2022 and Machine Learning Engineer at Square from 2018 to 2022.
Bhupesh Bansal
LinkedInExperience: Head of Engineering - Block Banking (Square & Cash-App) · Block
Bhupesh Bansal has been Head of Engineering - Block Banking (Square & Cash-App) at Block since September 2026, based in Sunnyvale, California, and was Head of Engineering - Restaurants at Block from December 2023 to April 2024. Bhupesh Bansal was Vice President of Engineering at Handshake from 2022 to 2023 and Head of Engineering - Core Investing at Robinhood from 2019 to 2022.
Nicholas Latourette
LinkedInExperience: Head of Engineering, Sliderule · Block
Nicholas Latourette has been Head of Engineering, Sliderule at Block since August 2024, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Nicholas Latourette was CTO & Co-founder at Sliderule (acquired by Block, Inc.) from 2020 to 2024 and Senior Software Engineer at Flexport from 2018 to 2020.
Paul Luong
LinkedInExperience: Senior Director, Data and AI Engineering · Block
Paul Luong has been Senior Director, Data and AI Engineering at Block since January 2025, based in Irvine, California. At Block, Paul Luong was also Director, Data and Analytics Engineering from 2023 to 2025, Principal Data Engineering Manager from 2021 to 2023 and Staff Data Engineering Manager from 2019 to 2021.
Riley Crane
LinkedInExperience: Director of Engineering, Moneybot AI — Cash App · Block
Riley Crane has been Director of Engineering, Moneybot AI — Cash App at Block since April 2022, based in San Francisco, with a headline about building Moneybot, Cash App's AI financial assistant. Riley Crane was Cash App, Growth Platform Lead at Square from 2020 to 2022, Lead, Automation Engineering at Square from 2019 to 2020 and Engineering Manager at Square from 2017 to 2019.
Choose the right perspective
Match the person's area, whether a shared platform, data and AI, or a product line such as banking, payments or bitcoin, to the question you bring. Check when each person's current role started before you choose.
Questions to take into the conversation
- 01How do platform engineering groups and product engineering groups divide ownership of shared services?
- 02What does planning and prioritization look like for an engineering organization in your area?
- 03How do you approach reliability and incident response for financial systems?
Reaching Block engineering leaders
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About this directory
This is a professional research starting point based on business profile data retrieved on . Titles and companies reflect that source snapshot; roles marked former had ended by then. Check the linked profiles for current details. Inclusion does not imply Instant Expert membership or availability.